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Sunday 3 May 2015

A foodie afternoon in Helmsley

Helmsley is a beautifully picturesque town on the North Yorkshire moors. Voted as one of the top 50 best places to live in the countryside, it's easy to see why since not only is it beautiful but it's well provided for with pretty little antique shops, restaurants and cafes and upmarket boutiques.
The market square

I've only ever passed through Helmsley before, so yesterday we had arranged to meet our friends from Masham there for lunch and a potter around. We met in the early afternoon at Porters coffee shop.

Porters coffe shop
photo courtesy of www.visithelmsley.co.uk

It was lovely to meet Mr. & Mrs. R, whom we haven't seen in a few months, and Mrs. R had made me this beautiful silver bangle. I have a penchant for jewellery, but it's even more special when it's been made especially for you, and extremely clever too.

handmade silver bangle

Porters was lovely. It was a tad nippy outside (despite it being May) so they had the log fire roaring. On offer is a fayre of freshly made light meals such as toasties, soups and salads, and the surroundings are really relaxed. I had a beautiful fresh cheese and ham toastie, served with salad and washed down with a cappucino. It was lovely and I would definitely go there again.

Afterwards we had a wander around some of the shops, so engrossed in an antique jewellery shop window that I managed to give myself quite a bump on the head on the window frame. Must pay more attention to the window and less to the jewellery in future.

We also visited a beautiful Moorcroft shop, and a couple of small boutiques. By no means did we cover all of them though before we retired back out of the cold and into the Black Swan tea room.


The Black Swan has a very good reputation for afternoon teas and is part of the Yorkshire moors and coast capital of cake... Which says it all really. Inside it's very comfortable, with beautiful floral wallpaper and low beamed ceilings.

photo courtesy of www.blackswan-helmsley.co.uk

They had a vast menu of teas and fresh cake, so I tried an oolong, which I've never had before. It's such a delicate taste, I really liked it and wouldn't hesitate to have it again. It was a very lovely end to a very relaxing afternoon.

Tea and cake

I can't wait to return to Helmsley again for more exploration. 

1 comment:

Vix said...

What a pretty town! Love your silver bangle. xxx